Can I Be A Hero Too?

Has there ever been anyone in your life whom you have looked up to? Most everyone has “heroes” they admire and dream of becoming like! What about spiritually speaking, has there ever been someone you have admired from afar? Their faith amazes you, their strength is beyond your comprehension, their dedication to Christ no matter what happens to them is never wavering! When you grow up you want to be just like them!

There have been a few, what I like to refer to as heroes of the faith, that I have always looked up to. I have read books about them and with each word I soaked up, my heart said more and more “Yes! This is what I want to be like!”

Corrie Ten Boom is one of those heroes. Have you ever had the privilege of sitting down and reading some of what she has written? Oh friend, if your answer is no you must change that! A true treasure, a hero of the faith, wisdom so eloquently given from her lips when spoke! I want to have faith like she did!

Let’s not forget about Jim Elliot and his wife! Willing to risk life and limb simply to share the Gospel with a people whom they did not even know! People they continually loved and reached out to just to be able to share the good news of salvation with! Jim’s journal entries are quite moving and the books his wife have written are encouraging and challenging! They had the kind of faith and passion for Christ that I deeply desire!

It is easy to sit in the comfort of my own home, sipping away at my morning coffee as I read autobiographies and dream of becoming like these three heroes, without even taking a moment to realize what exactly they had to go through in order to have that kind of faith.

We often look at people like this and assume that God just handed them a double portion of faith instead of realizing that these people, and so many more, had their faith built on the back of trials God required them to go through. Have you ever noticed that those whom we admire spiritually, all went through some pretty tough times? Hardship, loss, pain of all sorts, being without food, beatings, brought to the brink of their faith and then stretched some more, all of this and more are what these heroes of the faith have gone and are going through.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty of it all, the truth is we often want their faith without having to go through what they went through to get that faith.

When God requires my husband and I to go through times of pain, loss, brokenness, betrayal, being stretched to our very limits and then stretched a little bit more, I am not a fan of that! I do not like being taken outside of my comfort zone. I do not enjoy being out in the desert so to speak and experience loss multiple times over.

Yet, it is often through these times when I have learned the most about God, His love, His mercy, His overwhelming grace, how He “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” {2 Corinthians 1:4}

When I have been taken to the brink of my faith and then stretched some more is when God has shown Himself to me in ways I would not ever know had I not been brought to this very place.

Think about this quote by A.W. Tozer for a minute, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”

In the valley is when we learn this life is not all about us, but rather about Him! The valley tends to humble us and bring us to our knees. Maybe our valleys, our pain, our brokenness, is just what God is using to bring about our greatest blessings. Anything that draws us closer to Christ is worth going through. Those words are easy to type and read, but let that sink in for a moment.

What is God asking you and I to go through today? Are we allowing it to draw us closer to Him? Are we letting it stretch and grow our faith?

Corrie Ten Boom, Jim Elliot, and so many others, they were just ordinary people whom God used to do extraordinary things because they allowed Him to do anything that would draw them closer to Himself! Friends, that can be us too!

I know trials hurt, I know the pain may seem endless and wearisome, but keep the faith! Let’s find our comfort in Christ! Let’s let these valleys be what Christ uses to build our faith and refine us to reflect more of Him to others. One day it will be worth it all!

Many Blessings,

Wendy

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